This invention relates to the field of machine tools and more particularly to a wrench capable of removing and installing nuts in very tight mechanical situations.
In many applications currently in use in industry, for example water lines, gas lines, air conditioning lines, brake and hydraulic lines or other pneumatic lines, the various piping is connected by means of a wide hexagonal nut known as a line-nut. The ends of the pipe are threaded as are the internal portions of the line-nut. These pipes are frequently placed at or very near a wall or other obstruction, as the mechanics of the installation dictates. In order to service these various types of tubing or piping, it frequently becomes necessary to remove the line-nut in place as it was previously installed.
One prior method of removing this nut was simply to apply a normal adjustable wrench, open-end box wrench, or other similar device to the line-nut and to manually turn the nut until the pipes are loosened. However, one major drawback to this situation is that the nut, as installed, frequently allows little room in which to maneuver the elongated shaft of the wrench. This, in turn, causes the removal of the line-nut to be a slow, laborious and often costly process.
Another major drawback in the existing art of removing a line-nut involves the use of very specific torques which must be applied to the reinstallation of the line-nut once the servicing of the pipes or tubing has been accomplished. Frequently these line-nuts must be adjusted to a specific torque, hence a particular type of torque wrench must be used in reinstalling the line-nut in the line. Since these line-nuts are frequently installed in very tight mechanical situations, the use of the torque wrench to apply force directly to the line-nut is frequently cumbersome and, at times, nearly impossible. Another possibility, the use of a crow's foot socket and torque wrench has similar drawbacks.
Another difficult type of installation or servicing of the line-nut could occur when the line-nut is installed in a corner or near a number of upwardly projecting bolts or other obstructions. In this particular application it is often possible to place an open-end wrench or other type of wrench onto the line-nut or other type of nut, but the upwardly projecting protrusions frequently allow little room in which to move the shaft of the wrench in the direction necessary to remove the nut. It is an object of this invention to provide a tool which allows removal of a nut in a tight tolerance area.
It is another object of this invention to provide a tool which allows quick, offset removal of a line-nut which is installed very close to a wall or other obstruction. It is a still further object of this invention to provide a tool for removing nuts in tight tolerance areas which also allows the application of a standard torque wrench to adjust the tightening torque of the nut to the proper specification. Further and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following Specification.